Was that Summer 2013????

I find myself starting to feel a little desperate as the seasons start to change this year.  

I have always loved living through 4 distinct seasons and embracing what each has to offer.

Maybe because summer whizzed right by me this summer and I worked on beautiful, hot day after beautiful , hot day ,I was really hoping Summer would stick around a bit longer.

Alas today was foggy, then stormy and rainy and the week ahead forecast on my pessimistic iPhone App is pretty dismal.

We expect sudden clearing at 5pm Thursday for an outdoor concert we have tickets for - standby!

The signs of Fall are creeping slowly across the landscape..... (see Wordless Wednesday this week for evidence).

My whining isn't going to change anything and despite weather worries we had a grand weekend!

Of course it revolved mostly around family and friends and food.

Shocker!

Allan has been enjoying the Pink Salmon Fishery over the last couple weeks with his bud Fil (at undisclosed locations across the lower mainland) and he came home with 4 beauties this week.

And by beauties I mean slimy fish with heads on. And eyes.

However once headless and mostly boneless we set about making meals while the aforementioned bits simmered away outside to make fish stock for upcoming salmon bisque.

Allan and I then found a recipe for salmon burgers and prepared all we needed and then ground the salmon and voila an hour later we had 16 quarter pound, home made, salmon burgers ready for the freezer! NICE!

We were also preparing two other salmon for a welcome feast for my Dad who was on an unexpectedly extended trip to South Africa for the last 5 weeks.  So the kitchen was a whirlwind as Allan prepared two salmon fillets for alder smoking and two for curry bbq salmon with mint yogurt sauce.  David made a spinach salad and I made a mushroom risotto and roasted some fresh heirloom tomatoes from Urban Edibles.

Lindsay was displaced to the Dining room to make her Martha Stewart Chocolate Cake which was possibly the nicest chocolate cake I have ever eaten!

It was so busy that I totally forgot to take any pictures of the actual meal when plated but trust me, it was delish!

We sat outside in sweaters just because we could still sit outside and just as well as tonight its pouring rain and windy.

Today the kitchen has been just as busy with Lindsay producing batches of peanut, oatmeal, choc chip cookies (aka fishing cookies), Allan made a great chicken curry and homemade naan bread and Lindsay and Allan are currently dealing with a superb over abundance of pork bun dough which should shortly produce 30 pork buns ready for steaming for lunches for the rest of the semester due to a slight over calculation.

You know when your mother tells you math will be useful in everyday life?  This would be one of those days for Lindsay.  Anyhoo.....we should be done by midnight.

For those wondering how I managed with my new FOCUS (thanks for asking) .... I lost 5lbs last week religiously watching and recording calories and working out 3 times.... this weekend was harder but I stayed in calorie range (albeit only just yesterday) even when accounting for alcohol and dessert!  Back to working out tomorrow and in a challenge to work out 4 times per week for the next five weeks!!

So there is the weekend highlights - lets not speak of laundry, lawn mowing, puppy care, trip planning, conference delegate entering, bidding, grocery shopping and other lesser things!

Have a great week friends!